Roy Hodgson admits he will face something of a balancing act to keep Liverpool fighting on all fronts if they're to progress in Europe this season.
It's a tournament Hodgson holds fond feeling for, having guided former club Fulham to the Hamburg final last term against all odds.
However, he acknowledges an extended European jaunt - in addition to the international scheduled - can have a knock-on effect on a team's domestic aspirations, such is the demand it places on players.
But the manager will be doing all he can to ensure that does not happen at Anfield this season.
"I had a good squad at Fulham and we didn't have too many injuries, so I was quite fortunate in that respect," Hodgson told a pre-match press conference.
"But, quite frankly, if you're at a club like Liverpool or Fulham, you've got a lot of players playing international matches and I think asking a player to play 70 matches a year is totally out of the question.
"I don't think any club can carry the strength or depth of squad to deal with 70 matches, so you'd need an awful lot of luck to go all the way.
"I thought last year's experience with Fulham in getting to the final cost us several places in the league."
With this in mind, reporters quizzed Hodgson on where his Liverpool team's priorities will lie this term.
He responded: "If you are going to prioritise, you have to prioritise the Premier League over the Europa League, always.
"You'd like to do well in both, but if you were forced to choose one to prioritise, you'd always prioritise the Premier League - and I think that would possibly even go for teams playing in the Champions League.
"But we take it (the Europa League) very seriously and will be doing our best to play well and win the game."
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